Improvement in needle-looms



UNITED STATES JOSEPH H. GREENLEAF, OF NEW HAVEN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO NATHAN A. BALDWIN, OF MILFORD, SAMUEL COIT, OF HARTFORD, AND SAMUEL PECK, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN NEEDLELOOMS Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. i'i, dated May 26, 1874; application filed February 18, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. GREENLEAF, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Needle-Looms 5 and l do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings'and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be 'a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l a front view, Fig. 2 a top or plan view, Fig. 3 an end view, Fig. 4 a .detached view, of the feeding mechanism enlarged; Fig.

5, a longitudinal section of the mechanismwhich imparts a reciprocating movement to the needle; Fig. 6, an inside view of the revolving head and slide with which the pitman is connected; and in Fig. 7 a diagram illustrating the operation of the mechanism for driving the needle.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of looms in which the filling-thread is carried through the shed by an eye-pointed rod or needle, interloeked with a selvage or shuttle-thread upon the opposite edge, and returned with the needle, leaving a double filling in the shed, and this beaten up by the lay as in ordinary looms, with special reference to the loom for which Letters Patent were granted to John Earnshaw, April 9, and July 9, 1867, but applicable to other needle-looms.

The object of this invention is, first, to provide a positive-cloth take-up, which shall be adjustable to the greatest nicety second, to impart to the needle ya quick reciprocating movement through the shed with a positive stand-still at each extreme of its motion and, also, to adjust the length of motion of the needle, so that a wide loom may be adapted to various widths of fabrics, so as to allow an increase of speed of the loom as the throw of the needle is shortened.

The invention consists, first, in placing upon the cloth-beam, or in direct connection therewith, a worm-gear in which a worm works to cause the beam to revolve, the said worm and worm-gear combined with a disk, and an adjustable frictional pawl operating thereon, the

' same being intermittently,actuated by a constantly revolving cam, thereby imparting to the beam a corresponding intermittent rotating movement, second, in combining with the properly-guided needle on one side of the loom, and interlacing-shuttlc upon the other side, a needle-driving mechanism having a combined rotary and radial movement, so that at the eX- treme points of the needles movement the needle will come to a positive rest, (first, for the passage of the shuttle through the fillingthread loop; and, second, for the movement of the lay in beating up the filling g) third, in a series of bearings for the needle-staff in a line drawn from the point .where the connecting-rod is attached to the staff when in its extreme forward position to the lowest bear-v ing, whereby in either of the bearings of the series the forward point reached will always be the same, but the return shortened or lengthened as the bearing is lower or higher.

A is the frame; B, the drivingshaft, to which power is communicated through a pulley, B. Neither the reeds, the lay, or the harness, or their operative mechanism, are shown, these parts not differing essentially from the common and well-known construction. The shaft B communicates a corresponding revolution to a transverse shaft, C, by bevel-gearsD D. E is the cloth-beam, ar-

ranged in bearings E. On one end of the beam a wormgear, F, is rigidly fixed, and across the end of the loom, or parallel with the shaft is another shaft, L, on the end of which, beneath the gear F and working therein, is a worin, L', so that by turning the shaft L, the beam E will be rotated accordingly. On the shaft C is a cam, N, and hung to or substantially concentric with the shaft L, (see Fig. 4,) is a lever, P, its free end resting upon the cam N, or in the path of said cam, so that the revolution of the cam imparts a corresponding vibrating or swinging movement to the said lever, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 4. To adjust the said lever l? sothat the cam will take it sooner or later, an adjusting-screw, R, is arranged in connection with the lever, so that thefree end of the lever may be raised from or dropped nearer to tle can. On the shaft L is a disk, S, upon which an adjustable frictional pawl, a, in connection with the lever l), works, so that cach upward movement ot the lever P imparts a corresponding partial rotation to the disk S, thence through the shaft L to the cloth-beam E. A spring, T, holds the lever l? down to its work. j

lhis construction imparts a positive movement to the beam, and the wormteeth prevent any reaction of the beam after feeding, as is unavoidabl y the case when the feeding device is applied directly to the beam, as in the usual construction, and the tension may be very great 'by the exertion oil a slight amount'of power.

rlhis feeding mechanism may be applied to other classes of looms.

. The extent of the feed is varied or adjusted to any given number of picks to the inch by setting the adj Listing-screw R to make the play of the lever l? greater or less.

The disk S and its pawl may be constructed so that the pawl will have a frictional bearing to engage the disk.

The needle b is secured to the slide d, running freely in guides e, the path ofthe needle being at right angles to the warp. Upon the opposite side of the loom is the shuttle j', workin g' in a race, g, parallel with the warps and driven from the shaft B, this shuttle interlacing its thread with the filling-thread, substantially as in needle-looms.

A rapid movement ofthe needle is required to pass it over and return through the shed between each beat of the lay; and to do this, a rest of the needle must occur at the two extreme points of its motion-at the forward extreme, in order that the shuttle may pass through the llingthread loop and complete its passage before the needle commences its backward movement; and at the other extreme, that the lay may be thrown up and returned before the needle again enters the shed. To do this, a continuous revolving head, t', is attached to the shaft C, and centrally in this is a slide, Z, which revolves with the head, and has also a radial movement across the face of the revolving head z'. Back of this head t' is a stationary disk or plate, u, in the face of which is cut an irregular groove; and from one end of the slide Z a stud, m, extends into the groove in the fixed plate u, so that, in revolvin g, the said stud m will follow the groove in the fixed plate, and impart to the slide l a radial movement corresponding to the irregularity of the groove in the plate a. From the other side of and opposite end of the slide l a crank.. pin, of, projects through a slot in the revolving head t', and to this crank-pin one end of a connecting-rod, t, is attached, and the other end to a staff, U. This staff is pivoted at the lower end, and the upper end connected to the nee die-slide d, as seen in Fig. l.

The combined action of the stationary plate n and the revolving head i upon the needle is shown in diagram, Fig. 7. l represents the extreme back point or the connection with the staff U, and 2 the extreme forward point; the broken line 3 the path of the crank-pin, which, without the irregular groove in the fixed disk or plate, "would travel in a circle concentric to the axis ofthe shaft; but it is desired that at the extreme backward point the staff or point l shall'beat a dead stand from 4: to 5. VTo do this, the crank-pin must move through an are of which the point lis the center, as indicated, from 4L to 5. The stud m is at the opposite end of the slide, and the path of the stud, while the Vcrank-pin is moving from 4C to 5, will be as from 6 to 7 hence the groove in the fixed disk or plate is made of that form, the solid line denoting the shape or form of thc groove. From one extreme, 5, to the other, 8, the path of the crankpinV is concentric, and also the stud m, for the same time, as from7 to 9. At the'saidA point 8, which is the other extreme, 2, where it is desired that a dead stand still be made to the point l0, the groove in the fixed disk from 9 to 1l is correspondingly formed, as before described; then from l0 to 4, the place of beginning, the path is concentric, as from 5 to 8.

It is desirable in this class of looms to provide for weaving various widths Aof fabrics, and as the fabric is narrowed an increase of speed is desirable, as the needle may reciprocate faster as its extent of motion is decreased. The needle must invariably move to the same point under the interlocking shuttle, and eonsequently any cutting off of its throw must be accomplished on its backward stroke.

No change can be made in the points connecting the crank-pin with the staff U without altering the throw of the needle on both ends of its stroke. This desired adjustment of throw is attained by a series of bearings, here represesented as holes in the lower end of the staff U, and corresponding holes in the fulcrum-stand X. The bearings in the fulcrumstand must be in a line drawn from the point where the connecting-rod is attached to the staff when in its extreme forward position, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. l, and the lowest bearing or hole; hence, to adjust the throw, the bearing or fulerum of the shaft is changed from one point to another, and the same forward point is always reached; but the extreme backward point, varied to a greater or less distance, according as the fulcrum or bearing is at a higher or lower point.

In this class of looms, for weaving wide goods, there is a tendency of the needle to vibrate when running at a high rate of speed, thus endangering the warp-threads on the entrance of the needle into the shed, and a possibility that the needle (owing to vibration) may not properly enter the shuttle-race. To obviate this difficulty of vibration, I attach to the breastbeani of the loom a needle-guide, Y, Ywhich is formed from two pieces of sheet-steel or other suitable material, one end secured to the beam, the other extending to the path of Vthe needle, so that the needle in its passage will pass between said two pieces; and, at that l. In combination with the cloth-beam E,-

gear F thereon, Worin L, disk S, and frictional pawl a, the lever I?, made adjustable by the screw R, and cam N, substantially as de scribed.

2. In combination with the needle b and shuttle f, or other thread-interlacing device in a needle-loom, the continuous revolving head Q7, carrying the radial slide l, the xed cam u, the said revolving head and cam or disk imparting to the said slide l a combined revolving and radial movement, and the said slide connected to theneedle-slide d, so as to impart to the needle a rcciprocatin g movement, with a positive stand-still at each extreme of its movement, substantially as described.

3. In combination with the reciprocating needle-slide d, the staff U, and a mechanism for imparting a vibratory motion to said staii', the fulcrum-stand X,Wl1en the said stand is constructed with au series of bearings in aline drawn from the point Where the connectingrod is attached to the staii' in its extreme forward movement and the lowest bearing, and the said staff also constructed to be set in or upon either of said series of bearings, arranged substantially as an d for the purpose specified.

JOSEPH II. GREENLEAF.

Titncsses A. J. Trnrrs, J. II. SHUMWAY. 

